Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the annual Labour Party Conference in 2024. Photo: © The MU.
Naomi Pohl met with Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday alongside other General Secretaries from Labour-affiliated unions.
During the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO) meeting, she raised concerns about funding for music education, highlighting that funding for music hubs has remained static since 2012, amounting to a significant real-terms cut. She called for funding to be increased in line with inflation.
Naomi said: “From September 2027, music hubs will come under the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. This would be a perfect opportunity to launch a new funding settlement for them, and would be hugely welcomed by our members who have been forced into worsening terms and conditions as a result of the real-terms cut over the past 14 years”.
Naomi also met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, where she urged him to ensure that EU touring was included on the agenda for the upcoming summit between the UK and the EU.